


A Taste of Trouble

by Evil_Sapphyre



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: 40s Noir, F/M, Intrigue, Mass Effect AU, Mass Effect Noir, Romance, Science Fiction Noir, noir
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-10-27 16:02:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Sapphyre/pseuds/Evil_Sapphyre
Summary: When Yumi Ryder, the heiress to the Ryder fortune, blows into Kadara, heads are turned, questions are asked. What brings a women like that to this seedy port? Reyes Vidal is no exception, as there's no telling how her sudden presence might affect business in town. Or more importantly, how it might affect the tenuous balance of power between the Outcasts and the Collective.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amarmeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amarmeme/gifts).



Everybody knew the day Yumi Ryder arrived into Kadara. After all, it was rather uncommon for a woman like her to be visiting all the way from Hyperion City. Kadara was a nowhere little shithole of a port; what could we possible have of interest that couldn’t be better found in Hyperion, Periphona, or even the capital, Nexus. Yet, she came here, and I couldn’t walk three feet without hearing the whispers about that little heiress.

_She was hiding a scandalous romance._  
_Her family owed a sizeable debt to Sloane Kelly’s crew._  
_She was feuding with her brother regarding her rights to the family business._

Me? I refused to believe any of what the people said. They were too distracted by the silver Rolls Royce and ever-present bodyguards, too busy trying to make up their minds on why she was here rather than observing the truth of the matter. There was a reason she came to town, even if it eluded me now, and I had every intention of finding it out. A woman like that attracted attention, and attention was bad for business. Frankly, I needed to know that her business wouldn’t interfere with mine.

That was why I chose to stop by Kralla’s Song. Even if the rumors hadn’t pointed out that she had been there every night since she arrived, the only silver Rolls Royce in town was double-parked out front.

Like I said, she attracted attention.

I adjusted my jacket, snapping the cuffs of my suit sleeves as I entered the establishment. Kralla’s liked to pretend that it was a high class establishment, with its fancy neon light out front and jazz that billowed out the front door every time it opened. I knew better though. It was all a facade. The well-dressed clientele were little more than thugs in suits, just as much as the sweet scent of tobacco barely covered the distinct floral smell of the opium den hidden in the back.

For some people, gaining access to Kralla’s Song would be difficult, especially on a night like this, with a doublefile line waiting to get past the security. For me, a nod, a handshake, and perhaps a bit of bribe, and I was walking through the front doors. A petite Asari girl greeted me with a coy smile and plunging neckline, trying to take my hat and coat. The last thing I wanted was any of Kelly’s people rifling through my things though. No matter how much Umi denied it, she wouldn’t be allowed to operate in this part of Kadara without Sloane’s permission. I wasn’t going to take the chance. Instead, I merely flashed the girl a smile before slipping past another couple of men, one coming, another going. I even resisted the urge to pocket the wallets of the two men, even if I had found them.

The line out front of Kralla’s did little to sell the story of how busy Umi was tonight. Bodies were packed at nearly every table and along the bar. The soft murmur of conversation drifted to my ears, above the live band that played at the far end of the room. Yet, despite the sea of people and dim lighting, it was hard to miss my intended target, only in part because she sat at a table alone, with a hulking Krogan standing behind her.

It would have been impossible for me to not notice her.

Raven curls cascaded over one shoulder, bare from the dress she wore. The deep red color of the fabric somehow matched the same shade that covered her lips. Her dark eyes flitted around the room, as she sat in silence, watching, and running a finger along a glass of, what I guessed, whiskey in front of her. There were many beautiful women in Kadara, but none quite like her. Simply put, she was exquisite.

Even before I approached her table, I knew she was going to be trouble. Not that I would ever let something so trivial stop me. Trouble I could handle. I raised a hand towards the bar, holding up a finger, as I closed the distance to her table. “You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

Her eyes flicked to me, dark pools of cherry mahogany shining with a glimmer of interest as I helped myself to one of the empty chairs there. Placing my hat off to the side, I pretended to not notice the slight shake of her head, intended for the Krogan standing behind her. Her lips twitched in a half smile, her eyes still locked on mine. “Maybe I am. Let me guess, that would just happen to be you?”

“Perhaps so.” An easy smile came to my face as I threw an arm across the back of the chair. “Or perhaps I couldn’t resist such a pretty woman, sitting all alone.”

The hint of the smile stayed on her face, but I saw the light of intrigue fade from her eyes as she let them wander. “With lines like those, I hope you’re good at whatever you do, Mister…”

“Vidal.” Her blunt rejection of my flattery only amused me further. If I wasn’t more interested in assessing what kind of problem she might be to business, I’d consider the rejection a challenge. “And I am quite skilled at more than just my job, Miss Ryder.”

Her eyes cut back to me, narrowing ever so slightly, and that hint of a smile fading. Surely, she couldn’t be surprised that her name preceded her when she attracted attention like she did. I also didn’t fail to notice how the Krogan behind her shifted his weight, his hand resting on his hip. I kept my eyes on her though, as her hand on the glass stopped moving, “And what exactly is it that you do, Mister Vidal?”

“I assist people in….acquiring things.” I was less being evasive at my chosen line of work, and more trying to gauge her reaction.

My eyes remained locked with hers, shimmering with the faintest glimmer of intrigue. It was disappointing when her eyes drifted from mine upon the deep rumble of the Krogan behind her. “He’s a thief.”

“That’s a rather dirty word.” A mock scowl crossed my face, and I gave a dismissive wave to the sentiment. It didn’t make it any less true, but I preferred to dress it up a bit more, especially when such pretty women were inquiring. “Besides, that implies stealing physical items. I am just as adept at obtaining information.”

Those sparkling eyes of hers recaptured mine, one eyebrow raised in question. I responded with a lazy grin, noticing how she shifted her body towards mine, leaning in closer. She lifted the glass to her lips, red marring the rim as it took its place back on the table. “Information? Exactly what sort of information do you acquire?”

“Secrets,” a glass of whiskey settled in front of me, and it was my turn to pause as I took a drink. Despite the upscale look of Kralla’s Song, they served shit whiskey, weak in flavor and burning in all the wrong ways. Once the burning stopped, I set the glass in front of me, taking the chance to lean in closer myself, my voice low and harsh from the drink. “The sort that people don’t want getting out.”

Her nose wrinkled, a smile playing on those red lips of hers. “That sounds suspiciously like blackmail, Mister Vidal.”

“That’s another dirty word, Miss Ryder.” My own grin widened, enjoying our back and forth more than I should, given that ears other than hers might catch words I’d rather they didn’t. But then again, I liked the way she kept calling me _Mister Vidal._ Perhaps I’d just take my chances right now. “I like to believe that I’m helping others see the errors in their ways.”

“And getting paid for doing so.”  Amusement colored her voice, as well as a surprising lack of judgement. I figured a woman like her, well… I expected disapproval at the very least.

A chuckle escaped me. With a casual shrug, I reclined back in my chair, draping my arm across the back. “I generally do like to be paid for services rendered, yes.”

She held my eyes, silence overcoming her as she fidgeted with her glass of whiskey. Slender fingers ran along the smooth cylinder, and I suspected what was on her mind before she finally broached the subject.  “And if one wanted to inquire about obtaining said services?” 

“That would be a conversation, for another time. Another place.” Maybe it was the whiskey still burning in my gut, but a part of me wanted to stay - to hear her out. It seemed apparent enough with that bit of an admission on why she came to Kadara, at least. We had the lowlifes and criminals that weren’t welcome to the big cities. Still, I got to my feet, collecting my hat, with just a hint of a smile on my face. Kralla’s was not the place for me to conduct any sort of business.

Her eyes shone with disappointment, but she made no effort to stop me. That was well enough. I might not have gotten the information I wanted when I arrived, but I got the next best thing. I knew it already, and that was why it was time to go.

I only made it a few feet, before she called out to me. “How exactly might someone contact you, for such a conversation?”

I said nothing, with my slow, easy grin on my face. She still sat with her fingers wrapped around her glass, staring at me with those dark, glittering eyes. Oh, she was certainly trouble, and I knew I'd be seeing her again.

With a wink and a tip of my hat, I disappeared into the crowd. It was all just a matter of time before she found me.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though Kadara was a nowhere little shithole of a port, there were parts of it that elicited a facade of elegance and decorum. At least, that’s what Sloane Kelly would have the citizens believe. I knew better, and it was evident on the short walk from Kralla’s Song to the edge of the Sloane’s territory. There was a thin strip along the edge of town, sitting in the shadow of the militarized fence that was supposed to keep the  _ true _ outlaws from overwhelming those who have qualified for protection, where those of us teetering into exiled status lived.

It made the rest of Kadara look like Periphona in comparison, but I didn’t mind these slums, dirty and in almost perpetual darkness as they were. As I saw it, many of the people living here were the people who managed to stay off Kelly’s radar for paid “protection”. Most probably couldn’t afford the protection racket money, and at least here, they had a modicum of safety from the outside. I’d been outside the walls, and I knew that some of the dangers were exaggerated, but that shouldn’t mean that just anyone should be forced to live out there.

Just the thought of Kelly and her Outcasts, with their iron grip on this port, boiled my blood. It was enough to dampen my mood as I strolled into my office, nestled up alongside the lone club in these slums, Tartarus. Nestled might be too poor a word; technically, my office was the backroom of the club, with a private entrance just for me. I paid the owner well for it, one of the few tabs I kept current.

Shrugging out of my jacket, I laid it across the back of the patchworked leather couch that occupied one wall, settling my hat on top of it. I needed a drink; I knew that Kelly was the status quo of Kadara, and there was nothing to change that, no matter what I tried to dig up with my own little collective of spies and thieves. No, for now, it was best that I kept myself tucked away as nothing more than a broker of information.

I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt as I made my way to the small cabinet that hid my personal whiskey stash. Filling the glass tumbler with two fingers of the golden liquid, I breathed in the sweet oaken scent of the whiskey. It was far better than the swill Umi served up at Kralla’s, but this vintage was almost impossible to acquire in Kadara Port. I nicked it the last time I headed through the Nexus.

Heading to the door leading into the club, I stuck my head out briefly to wave in my associate whom I knew was there.

I took a seat on my couch, savoring the smooth rich flavor of my whiskey, as I recalled that troubling beauty back at Kralla’s. I expected I had not seen the last of her, and it was time to see what my people had learned.

Keema Dohrgun, a tall Angaran woman, transplanted from her people who called the continent of Havrl home, sauntered into my office. The maroon of her suit shone against the purple hues of her skin, a smile playing about her lips. I hoped her people realized how stunning she was. “You’re back sooner than I expected.”

“Yes, well,” I grinned as I slung an arm around the back of the couch. “I learned all I could over at Kralla’s. Tell me that you and the boys uncovered more.”

She walked with a certain sway to her hips as she came to sit beside me. If we weren't business partners, I might have let my gaze linger longer. “It seems that in the wake of Alec Ryder’s death that his children are desperate to retain control of his intellectual properties.”

“Ah, and let me guess,” I rolled the glass of whiskey in one hand. “One such property has made its way to our fine port?”

Keema merely smiled. “I have it on good authority that Sloane may be in possession of this item.”

I couldn't stop the frown that crossed my face, glowering as I thought of the very woman that spoiled the delightful encounter I had with one of the very Ryder children we discussed. “What do we know of the item?”

“That much? I can't say.” Keema placed a hand on my shoulder. “Sloane has entrusted it to her lieutenant Kaetus. You know as well as I do that makes it a harder barrier to surmount.”

I nodded, throwing back the whiskey that I would rather have savored. Sloane always ruined my best laid plans it seemed. “Very well. Tell the boys to keep an eye on them, see what they can find out, but don't risk themselves. I don't want a turf war with Sloane.”

Not yet anyway.

She nodded, rising to her feet and stopping only when she got to the door. “Oh, and there was one other thing of note.” I simply raised an eyebrow as I looked to her. “This Yumi Ryder? It seems she has a bit of a problem resisting certain temptations. She was known to visit certain opium dens quite frequently back at Hyperion City.”

“That is rather useful information. Thank you, Keema.” I only hoped that I would be able to use that information to my benefit. 


End file.
